New Law Will Require New Jersey Landlords To Inform Tenants Of Lead Risks

By Nikita Biryukov, New Jersey Monitor

September 25, 2025

Landlords will be required to report the presence of lead water lines to their tenants under a bill Acting Gov. Tahesha Way signed into law Friday.

The new law requires landlords to disclose to current and prospective tenants whether water utilities have said their rental unit is serviced by lines that may contain lead and whether the unit is old enough to contain lead piping. It also requires landlords to provide to tenants copies of notices within the last three years that found lead levels exceeded acceptable levels in the unit’s service area.

“With this bill, we’re protecting New Jerseyans in their communities,” said Way. “No child or adult should ever be forced to live with the detrimental and lasting health effects caused by lead poisoning from their homes.”

Way, who is lieutenant governor and secretary of state, is acting governor while Gov. Phil Murphy is abroad on a trade mission to India.

Lead exposure can cause serious health risks, particularly in children, who risk developmental delays, behavioral changes, and other physical and neurological symptoms when exposed to the metal, typically over months or years.

The new law also allows residents to request their utility test their water for lead. If lead levels are within acceptable bounds, utilities must only conduct that test once a year at a given property. If lead levels are too high, the utility must retest every 60 days until lead levels are acceptable in two consecutive tests.

“Lead contamination is prevalent in all regions across the state, and it is crucial that we protect the health of our New Jersey families,” said Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic), the bill’s chief Assembly sponsor. “Some of the oldest residential structures in New Jersey are in our urban communities, like Passaic, which are disproportionately impacted by lead contamination in water service lines.”

The new law, which sailed through both legislative chambers in unanimous votes, gives the Departments of Health, Community Affairs, and Environmental Protection six months to develop a notice informing residents about the risks of lead exposure and waterborne lead, including information on protective measures.

Landlords must begin informing their residents of properties’ lead risks in the 90 days after the departments draft that notice. They would not be required to issue similar notices for lease renewals after the initial wave.

Real estate agents are not responsible for providing those notices unless they are also the property’s landlord.

Lead water lines have been federally banned since 1986, though many aging homes around New Jersey still contain them.

A lead line replacement program launched in Newark in 2019, three years after tests found elevated lead levels in Newark schools, replaced roughly 23,000 lead pipes.

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